I love analyzing my native language, American English, and helping non-native speakers make sense of it. I've been doing this for fun with friends who speak English as a second language for nearly 30 years. I would like to first thank A.D., C.F. and E.A., and now P.G., for inspiring me to finally write this stuff down!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Nazi

Many Americans use the word 'nazi' to call someone a name who they think is very strict or acting like a control freak.

This was illustrated in an episode of "Seinfeld," where the Soup Nazi would not give soup to people who ordered in a way that displeased him. On "Grey's Anatomy," there is a strict and tough doctor who has the nickname 'the nazi.'

By using 'nazi' in this way, the heartless brutality of the actual Nazis, who were responsible for the extermination of 6 million Jews, seems to be lost on most Americans.

Example:
-My professor is driving me crazy! She won't let us use our phones in class. What a phone nazi!